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Monthly Archives: August 2015

FDIC Publication Focuses on the Critical Role of Corporate Governance

News release: “The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) today released the summer 2015 issue of Supervisory Insights. The lead article, “Strategic Planning in an Evolving Earnings Environment,” highlights the critical role of corporate governance and strategic planning in navigating a challenging operating environment. “Although the financial performance of banks is steadily improving, the operating environment… Continue Reading

Demand Progress coalition calls for systematic public access to non-confidential CRS reports

Via Demand Progress – a national grassroots group – August 24, 2015: “Dear Chairman Blunt, Chairman Miller, Ranking Member Schumer, Ranking Member Brady,and Vice Chairman Harper: We write in support of expanded public access to Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports. Longstanding congressional policy allows Members and committees to use their websites to disseminate CRS products… Continue Reading

Report – Defining Financialization

Mike Konczal – Roosevelt Institute: “Following the well-received Disgorge The Cash, this is really the foundational paper that outlines a working definition of financialization, some of the leading concerns, worries, and research topics in each area, and a plan for future research and action. Since this is what we are building from, we’d love feedback.… Continue Reading

Mobile Messaging and Social Media 2015

Pew Report – Mobile Messaging and Social Media 2015 – August 19, 2015: “In today’s world, people — particularly young people — are continually finding and adapting new ways of communicating electronically to fit their needs. Case in point: 2015 marks the first time Pew Research Center has asked specifically about mobile messaging apps as… Continue Reading

Professor Latanya Sweeney Launches New Privacy and Technology Journa

EPIC – “Harvard Professor Dr. Latanya Sweeney has launched Technology Science, a new online journal for “original material dealing primarily with a social, political, personal, or organizational benefit or adverse consequence of technology.” Among other papers, Technology Science currently features research on Facebook Messenger’s geolocation collection and disclosure, medical privacy, and price discrimination in international… Continue Reading

Appeals Court Upholds FTC’s Data Security Authority

EPIC – “A federal appeals court ruled that the Federal Trade Commission can enforce data security standards. In FTC v. Wyndham, the agency sued Wyndham hotels after the company exposed financial data of hundreds of thousands of customers. The company argued that the FTC lacked authority to enforce security standards, but the court disagreed. EPIC… Continue Reading

FCW obtained official timeline of OPM data breach

FCW.com: “An official timeline of the Office of Personnel Management breach obtained by FCW pinpoints the hackers’ calibrated extraction of data and the government’s step-by-step response. It illuminates a sequence of events that lawmakers have struggled to pin down in public hearings with Obama administration officials. The timeline makes clear that the heist of data… Continue Reading

Do We Know What We Owe? Consumer Debt as Reported By Borrowers And Lenders

News release: “A new Federal Reserve Bank of New York study finds a striking level of accuracy in the correspondence between debt-holding patterns implied by the borrower-reported Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) and the lender-reported Consumer Credit Panel (CCP). Some exceptions do exist, and chief among them is credit card debt, which appears to be… Continue Reading

Mandatory Minimum Sentencing: Federal Aggravated Identity Theft

CRS report vai FAS – Mandatory Minimum Sentencing: Federal Aggravated Identity Theft – Charles Doyle, Senior Specialist in American Public Law. August 20, 2015. “Aggravated identity theft is punishable by a mandatory minimum sentence of imprisonment for two years or by imprisonment for five years if it relates to a terrorism offense. At least thus… Continue Reading

Intelligence Community and Its Use of Contractors: Congressional Oversight Issues

CRS via FAS – The Intelligence Community and Its Use of Contractors: Congressional Oversight Issue. L. Elaine Halchin, Specialist in American National Government. August 18, 2015. “Contractors have been and are an integral part of the intelligence community’s (IC’s) total workforce (which also includes federal employees and military personnel). Yet questions have been raised regarding… Continue Reading

App adds features to Westlaw and Lexis – makes legal research faster and easier

Bestlaw, a robot for legal research [via Bob Ambrogi] “Features – When you read a document—like a case, statute, or law review article—Bestlaw adds a toolbar with these features: Copy a perfect Bluebook citation with one click Read documents in a clean, readable view with beautiful typography Prevent getting automatically signed off Collapse and expand statutory… Continue Reading